Banana Bread with Pureed Cauliflower

I think that my newest mission is to test out and write about the recipes in the Jessica Seinfeld cookbook, Deceptively Delicious. While I've only made 3 recipes thus far, each one has been amazingly good and easy to make. Her banana bread recipe is yet another recipe that didn't fail my taste expectations. It was also another good recipe to tweak and adapt to a variety of flavors and add-ins. I am not much of a baker, though I LOVE baked goods, cakes, pastries, cookies. It's definitely my downfall food group; the hardest food to curb back on my Weight Watchers program. So, when I saw a recipe that could be a tempting sweet that had healthy ingredients, I was more than willing to try it. Even though I'm not a great baker, I do have a few standby baked goods that I can make really well, banana bread is chief among them. The recipe as it was published is not that different from my two favorites - loaded with bananas, low fat and low in refined sugars and bleached white flour. I've changed the recipe slightly, that's the beauty of this book - you can always find a way to make it just a bit more healthy and of course, Weight Watcher friendly. The banana bread is incredibly moist. I suggest that after it is cooled, you refrigerated it so it doesn't spoil and develop mold. We're not making penicillin bread after all!

Banana Bread with Pureed Cauliflower Ingredients

• 3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/2 Cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar - Firmly Packed (light or dark - the darker the sugar the more flavor and color your banana bread will have)
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 1/2 Cups Banana Puree - mash 3 or 4 bananas by hand with a potato masher or the back of a fork rather than pureeing them in food processor or blender
• 1/2 Cup Cauliflower Puree (or you can use Butternut or Acorn Squash Puree)
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract - BEST QUALITY!
• Cooking Spray and Additional Flour to prepare baking pan

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare a 9 inch loaf pan or 2 mini loaf pans with cooking spray and dust completely with flour to coat evenly. This will ensure the banana bread will release from the pan cleanly and easily.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. You will need both the baking soda and baking powder to ensure the cake rises and doesn't fall during the baking time. Baking powder starts to react when the wet ingredients are mixed with it; baking soda begins working once the mixture is put into the oven.
4. In another large mixing bowl beat the eggs with the brown sugar until the mixture is lightened, frothy and the sugar appears to have dissolved slightly into the eggs. Beat in the banana and cauliflower purees and the vanilla.
5. Slowly fold in the flour mixture, incorporating it with the wet ingredients. Be careful not to over beat the mixture so the batter doesn't get tough.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans and put into the center of the oven immediately. Bake for 50-60 minutes, (25-35 minutes for mini pans) rotating the pan half-way through the baking time. The banana bread is done when a skewer or cake tester inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
7. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then release from the pan and cool on a rack for 1 hour before slicing. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate the loaf once it has completely cooled.

Flavor add-ins: Chopped Walnuts or Pecans; Raisins, Dried Cranberries or Golden Raisins; Chocolate Chips or Peanut Butter Chips; Toffee Pieces; Applesauce in place of the cauliflower or butternut/acorn squash purees.